OT - RBC Platinum Avion Card

[tone.def]

My recent RBC Visa statement came with an insert that I was Pre-Approved for the RBC Visa Platinum Avion card. This card boosts that I can redeem my points for flights when you want to travel:

On any airline
With no blackout periods
And no rewards seat capacity restrictions

For $120 annual fee... Anyone has any experience with this card? Should I not bother? Are they full of pooh? I already have a Mosiak MC with the Airmiles option and I'm not looking to open any new bank accounts or apply for other credits cards any time soon...

And... when you redeem points for flight, who pays the tax? You or your points?

 

[MikeyNS]

I love our RBC Avion. Have flown many many times. Basically you need 30,000 points to fly anywhere in North America. You get a $750 maximum ticket price (w/o fees), but you still pay the fees&taxes associated with the ticket (~$100-$150).. and as long as there are flights available you can get a ticket. I always book AC flights so I can get the Aeroplan points.

We put absolutely everything on our Avion card and get enough for a flight or two each year.

My recent RBC Visa statement came with an insert that I was Pre-Approved for the RBC Visa Platinum Avion card. This card boosts that I can redeem my points for flights when you want to travel:

On any airline
With no blackout periods
And no rewards seat capacity restrictions

For $120 annual fee... Anyone has any experience with this card? Should I not bother? Are they full of pooh? I already have a Mosiak MC with the Airmiles option and I'm not looking to open any new bank accounts or apply for other credits cards any time soon...

And... when you redeem points for flight, who pays the tax? You or your points?

 

[tone.def]

I love our RBC Avion. Have flown many many times. Basically you need 30,000 points to fly anywhere in North America. You get a $750 maximum ticket price (w/o fees), but you still pay the fees&taxes associated with the ticket (~$100-$150).. and as long as there are flights available you can get a ticket. I always book AC flights so I can get the Aeroplan points.

We put absolutely everything on our Avion card and get enough for a flight or two each year.

Never a hassle? I'm almost finding this too good to be true especially after dealing with airmiles!

 

[SeanK]

Is it really worth 120 a year for a card? I mean with the interest rates being as high as they are the big credit card companies should be paying us to use the card! I have a line of credit right now, and i only pay 1% above prime(which i think is 4.4% right now). I find that to be much better then the 15%-18% that the credit cards want to charge me.

Now i don't get anything in return from my line of credit that most people would get from an award card. However i do pay about 10%-15% less in interest then most people!

 

[MikeyNS]

Is it really worth 120 a year for a card? I mean with the interest rates being as high as they are the big credit card companies should be paying us to use the card! I have a line of credit right now, and i only pay 1% above prime(which i think is 4.4% right now). I find that to be much better then the 15%-18% that the credit cards want to charge me.

Now i don't get anything in return from my line of credit that most people would get from an award card. However i do pay about 10%-15% less in interest then most people!

I suppose if you carry a balance, then no.. but I have never paid a lick of interest on any credit card. In fact they've dropped my interest rate on my Avion card down to 12% (still not a deal) trying to bait me.

I have my Avion bundled into my VIP RBC account ($30/month), which may seem excessive but it saves me in the long run with multiple accounts, etc.

 

[drag n' fly]

Interest only matters if you carry a balance. We have a platinum Mastercard with the same idea. Points are directly transferred to a cash credit. What is good for us is my husband also uses this card for business also so we rack up about 10,000 - 15,000 a month in points. If you are an infrequent traveller and carry a balance this is not the card for you...not worth it.

 

[offwegotoneverland]

Never a hassle? I'm almost finding this too good to be true especially after dealing with airmiles!

no it has no airline restrictions so if you find a flight (say northwest) that you want and have enough points for two tickets and buy the third that's fine.

If you don't have a flight pre picked when you call they will review them with you.

I've redeemed 3 different times (using two different airlines) without a problem. Only time you would have a hassle would be if your "choice" flight was sold out of seats in your max range. You can also buy flights that don't leave from Canada with no hassle.

The difference is in the lack of affiliation to any airline or program..they use the "points" to purchase a ticket at going rates (hence the 750 max). Taxes and fees of course vary based on the purchase price of the ticket.

if flying is not your bag you can also redeem the points for merchandise, rrsp and resp contributions.

 

[jeffd101]

I agree with MikeyNS.

We also have our bundled in a plan, and if I need to carry a balance (very unusual) it will be through my much lower interest bearing line rather than on a card. We have used the points twice for flights, and will again in May (if the costs ever come down, because I will still need to pay for two seats and it feels like Halifax is the end of the earth based on current prices!).

I believe the only real restriction noted in the fine print is that a Saturday stay is required, so that may affect your decision depending on your travel habits.

 

[tone.def]

Okay, I think I'm going to go for it. Seems like a fairly good deal and like others, I rarely carry a balance and if I do, it's not for more than 2 statements... If only I had this card earlier this year - I've already made all my major expenses!

Hopefully I'll be flying "free" to WDW in no time!

 

[offwegotoneverland]

Okay, I think I'm going to go for it. Seems like a fairly good deal and like others, I rarely carry a balance and if I do, it's not for more than 2 statements... If only I had this card earlier this year - I've already made all my major expenses!

Hopefully I'll be flying "free" to WDW in no time!

make sure you ask for the current bonus offer it's 10000 points! (one third of the way to one ticket!)